Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1887-07-24
A NICKEL In THE SLIT.
Great scheme for Gathering Five-Cent
Pieces.
Nelr York Sun,

Pieces.
NslU York sun.
The automatic weighing machine, with
its stsring dial and its mute appeal and
hearty appetite for nickels, is abroad in
the land. II has taken the place where
crowds do congregate, Of the clamorous
individual who was wont to sit by n plat
form scale and make the air ring with
yoeiferous iyitatioTs to try your
weight, gentlemen; only five
C nts." 1t has taken his place,
aud more, too. ThOre are very few places
it has not taken. Railroad stations, ferry
houses, hotel corridors, theatre lobbies,
we'll frequented saloons, aund even unprO-
tected street corners have been invaded
and captured by it Compared to the old
Stale man it is rs one thousand is to II
And all to the end aud purpose of showing
man how heavy he il getting and charm
ing the five cent pieces out of his pocket.
The first ones that appeared, two sum-
mers ago, were hailed with JOY by young
and old. The refreshing modesty Of the
printed request, Put - tiye-cent nickel in
the slit" was alone worth the price OF adj
mission, and it was IN added and gratui-
touS delight 10 see the responsive
movement OF the needle and its
trembling, duttering stop over the
figures indicating the degree Of
SolidIty ut the nickel-drOpping expert
menter. Since then the machines have
become almost ~ familiar rs the horse
cars, their Iiyals in nickel gathering. But
their multiplication does not seem to sat-
ate the appetite OF the public. They are
all freely %patroni1ed, and il must he that
the habit OF weighing ones self, like all
other little indulgeneeS, grows upon the
victim until it cannot be shaken of.
The number OF these devices in use Is
one of the secrets Of-the company that is
responsible for their being, but how great
it must be can he imagined 10y anybody
who knocks about the city much and sees
them at every turn. A rather guarded rs
innate that the receipts Of u machine vary
from s. to So and over in week is the
next step Obtainable toward q calculation
that the population IN rapidly giving
itself up Ia the relentless grasp OF a
passion for getting weighed. Then
1t must he remembered that State
tights have been disposed OF and
agencies established all over the country.
The click of the falling 6ye-cent pieces is
now heard from Maine TO California and
from Chicago to New Orleans. The bene-
~ticiarieS Of this shower of nickels are the
inventor, an Englishman named Percival
Everitt, and a company of which Erastus
Wiman is President. Yankee ingenuity
has been dispensed with in the scheme,
but Yankee liberality and indifference to
small coin seem to be more indispensable,
for no fields in England or in Canada are
worth bothering with, while the great
American public stands waiting TO be
weighed.
The popularity OF the practice is tracea-
BILE 20 the individual interest in his growth
OF the man who is putting IN flesh, and
| the solicitude of his fellow who is con
scious of a waste Of his corporal tissues.
Every one of the numerous machines ap-
peals to them both alike to test the ques-
ton again. And, if the truth must he
told, there is often enough of variation
ia the different scales to keep up the
interest. The natural tendency to
AAAhN NbtAhItAAA NJ AAAA " "A"NyS
present when two or three are
gathered together, and the chance
that is offered tn bet the drinks
or something else on SOMEBODY'S weight
keeps the machine going when a group
happens along. And the childish interest
in the unexplained and mysterious opera
ton of the dropped coin allurcd many
women and children to step upon the
yielding platform. Experiment with a
view to corrupt the integrity of the faith
full collector of coin were OF course soon in
stituted. For a long time they
were simply further sources of reVe-
hue. Each attempt added another
five cent piece to the store under the red
Jacket of the standard of the machine. On
If the experiment took the form of trying
to placate the thing with lighter coin. the
value Of that coin vas added to the profits.
But the efforts continued, and success was
struck in two directions. One was the
device Of having one person put in his
nickel and get his little weigh, and grad
ually take his weight from the platform
in stepping OIL, while another Just rs grad
ually stepped on. The needle would
then CULVER until it rested on the !
indication of the weight of the
second. Another and better working trick
was TO put two pennies into the slot to-
gether. Their weight was sufficient to
have the Same effect as a nickel, and they
choked up the machine so that the needle
worked freely and different persons could
he weighed until some jar iOggled the PEN
mis- down and the machine resumed its
faithful and profitable service. Another
little weakness of the automatic weigher
was the fact that lead ive-eent pieces
cOuld be worked of on it with even more
facility than on the fare box of q bob-taiI
car.
The wits of the inventor were set 10
work again to enable his machine to dis
eriminate between pieces worth a hundred
cents on the dollar and those that were
worth a few cents on the pound. The first
machines were simple spring scales, the in
dieatOr on the dial being connected with
q wheel behind the Gace. The wheel was
held in place by \ pin on an arm or lever.
at the end of which was q cup, into which
the nipkal fall Tho uya,.,bk &c A. -: